OBX late October

[ski357]

In a couple of weeks I'm heading down to Nags Head with some friends. The main goal of this particular excursion is fishing. We'll have our kayaks with us and plan on fishing the sound side, targeting what we can. I've only ever done off shore charters and a little pier fishing down there. Hoping for favorable weather. Any words of advice/resources from folks who have kayak fished the area?

[bluefishnc]

Great time of year to be down there. Launch from either side of the Oregon inlet bridge but Oregon Inlet fishing center is easiest. Just park over near the giant propeller in the lot closest to the highway. All those flats will hold trout, flounder (can't keep), reds, blues, etc... Wind will be predominately NE or N so you will get some land cover from the wind over there too. Manns harbor has a boat ramp and fishing tight to the bridge there can be productive. By tight I mean in the channel and a foot off the pilings jigging. Striper, flounder, trout, reds are what I'd expect. Ocean fishing is usually great on cut bait. Fresher you can find (finger mullet) the better. Better yet net your own. Other option is to drive down over the Oregon inlet south to Pea Island. Park at the soundside boat ramp lot just past the new inlet bridge about 1/2 a mile. Its about a 1/2 mile to mile paddle to get to the better fishing spots in that area (check google earth and you can see the grass beds and cuts) but it can be very productive and tide is more manageable vs. some spots around the inlet. If the weather cooperates and you are halfway competent you'll catch plenty. Fish bite first and ask questions later down there this time of year.

[mjkeith13]

I'm heading down to Buxton, 20-25 Oct, mostly to get my fill of some good surf fishing. Not bringing my kayak but got my waders. I plan on doing some wade fishing on the sound side as well.

Any advice on some spots near Buxton for wading? Bringing a cast net too. Thanks!

[bluefishnc]

I'm heading down to Buxton, 20-25 Oct, mostly to get my fill of some good surf fishing. Not bringing my kayak but got my waders. I plan on doing some wade fishing on the sound side as well.

Any advice on some spots near Buxton for wading? Bringing a cast net too. Thanks!

Yes, that is actually my go to area in the OBX. I almost always go south past Oregon Inlet but I know the north pretty well too.

Buxton area I would say try the pullouts north of Avon on the sound. The grass beds up that way should still have a few reds/trout but they have started moving to the ocean so I wouldn't give those areas a lot of attention. I'd instead fish the old jetties if the ocean was cooperating in front of where the lighthouse used to be or I would go south to Hatteras and fish the flats just south of the Ferry channel. You can park near the coast guard station and walk out to the sound from there if you don't have a permit. Those flats can be very productive and hold fish longer than up North in Avon due to the proximity of the Ocean. Very wadeable as well up to 400 or so yards out but be mindful of rays on the bottom and move slow. I usually have a net behind me on a float string, rod and extra gear in a backpack or on a float tube tide behind me, rod in one hand and metal stake in the other. I use the metal stake to poke the sand in front of me as I walk to kick up the rays before I step on them. When you get to where you want to cast just push the stake in the sand and both hands are free.

If fishing the jetties fish tight to them but expect to lose a rig or two as well. Same on lures. They used to put large sand bags down in that area to stop erosion and when the tide exposes the bags that got buried they are a lure trap. Far north and far south jetties are usually the most productive.

[mjkeith13]

Thanks much! I've got an ORV permit again so should be able to get closer to some spots. I had forgotten about the jetties at old lighthouse beach. Even if the weather cooperates, it could get crowded with the red drum crowd.
With a permit, can I drive south from the coast guard station along the sound? I'd completely forgot about rays on the bottom so thanks for that important reminder. I've got a thick pointed garden stake that should do the trick.
I built about a dozen rigs yesterday and stocked up on mirrolures for the sound side. Are there other jetties besides those at the old lighthouse?

[bluefishnc]

Coast guard sound road only lets you run about 400 yards to the south and dead ends. That depends on tides though. Sometimes its only 50 yards or so you can go. Pole road runs inside the ocean along sound and you can stop (assuming it isn't flooded) along it and access various spots in the sound. Over wash 1/2 way down the pole road is a good spot to access the sound from.

No other ocean structure other than the piers and offshore wrecks the entire OBX. No jetties at all other than the lighthouse and Oregon inlet. Jetties are great though in the mullet run if the current is running right. Bait stacks up against them and blues/drum etc... know it. Usually nobody around this time of year but pays to get there first. Only room for one guy tight to them if that's where the bite is.

[mjkeith13]

Thank you again for the great info. Been a while since fishing OBX and even longer for fishing south of Oregon inlet. I grew up in NC but don't get back there often enough.

[ski357]

Thanks for the info. Now to start watching the weather.

[mjkeith13]

Starting to look like next week will be rough, wind wise. Mostly somewhat strong NNW winds. Looks like Sunday and Tuesday are potential no-go's for surf and kayak fishing.

[mjkeith13]

Thank you Bluefishnc for your help. Tried the flats behind the Coast Guard station twice, wading. Was cool to wade out 200-300 feet but only caught about 6 undersized black drum and one decent speck. A pod of dolphins had been hanging out there for the past week so not much left to catch. I didn't bring my kayak as I was focusing on surf and wade fishing. You were spot on. The pullout at little kinnakeet and inlet ramp 48 had perfect grass beds for mostly bluefish and specks. Would have limited out on specks in the first 30 mins but was C/R as I was staying in a hotel w/microwave.

There was a big Red Drum tournament going on by the NCBBA so much so that at any beach ramp I took, I had to practically parallel park to set up to fish. I didn't catch any red drum but caught some nice puppy drums and bigger black drums. Caught my first Pompano who promptly slashed my palm with his back as I removed the hook. I'll know better next time. South of OI is the ticket.

[J.A. Veil]

Mike - You had a productive week, with a lot of desirable species. Pompano are pretty fish and good fighters. Plus they are mighty tasty.

[bluefishnc]

Nice. Glad you were able to get on them. Yeah... I've had similar experiences at the Coast Guard station with the dolphin. That place can be much more hit or miss it seems vs. some other spots. You really need to be on it early in the AM in my experience or after dark to get them reliably otherwise the daylight, ferry traffic, boats etc... seem to spook things a bit. A kayak to "flat hop" across the deeper/spookier holes and get 1/2 a mile or so off shore where you can wade "virgin" stuff helps too. So much territory down there though you can fish without a yak. A yak for sure allows you to do some unique stuff but I don't think I'll ever bring my yak down again. I'll just rent one (a few places rent cheap fishing yaks for $100 or so for the week) if the urge strikes and wade the rest of the time. Again though... not sure how bad the rays were in Oct but in summer they are all over. A poking rod to test the areas before you step is a must if the water isn't crystal clear. Otherwise you are playing with fire. Just booked my 2020 vacation. Can't wait.

[mjkeith13]

That was good advise on the poking rod. I used plastic coated, cheap metal rod and it worked great until I broke it. I'll definitely find a much sturdier rod next time. The water was real clear and I could see most of the bottom even out to 250-300ft. Never poked a ray but I saw 2 rays move past my front. Looked like they were spooked by me and moving out. I drove up to the beach beside the coast guard station before it was even daylight only to find 2 truckloads of guys from NJ fishing from the bank with surf rods. They were friendly but not friendly enough for me to wade out anywhere near them and they covered the shore from the CG station to about 200ft south. I didn't mind as there's lots of shoreline. I didn't want to get my truck stuck when the tide came in so I turned around where the road hit the beach and parked up next to the fence. The folks from NJ must have forgotten that important tip as when I walked back to my truck after calling it a day, both of their trucks were stuck good. I was able to yank the smaller F150 out with my tow rope and traction mats (from my Tacoma) and then they yanked their buddies out. Made for a fun late morning. When are you going back next year?

[ski357]

Thanks everyone for the contributions to this thread. I had to wave off on the trip, due to other obligations. Tight lines.

[bluefishnc]

When are you going back next year?

The week before Labor day (end of Aug/begin of Sept). Not my ideal week to go as if it was just a straight fishing trip I'd rather go the last week of Sept but that inconvenient law about kids having to go to school gets in the way of my fishing needs. Such is life... Good news is in about 2 more years I am pretty sure I'll have a solid fishing buddy trained up. Bad news is the rates before Labor day down there are crazy. Hatteras Realty started a new "mandatory fee" this year where they added a new $169 "cleaning fee" to the houses (varies by house size supposedly). We always keep a nice house and vacuumed etc... but for 2020 I'm gonna be darn tempted to live the slob life and make sure I get my $169 worth. Price to play I guess. I'm sure all the other rental companies will be fast to follow suit if they haven't already.